[Satnews] In December 2015, SpaceX, a pioneer in the space industry, successfully landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 left Cape Canaveral in Florida, delivered 11 satellites to orbit and historically landed the first stage minutes later. For that achievement, the Space Foundation has selected SpaceX to receive one of its top honors, the 2016 Space Achievement Award.

“Space is a risky business, but SpaceX continues to push the envelope in innovation, moving humanity forward. The work being done by SpaceX will reduce cost and overhead for space travel, making exploration more accessible,” said Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham.

The Space Achievement Award recognizes individuals or organizations for breakthrough space technology or critical milestones in the evolution of space exploration and development.

Recipients over the past few years have included:

2015 X-37B OTV Team

2014 U.S. Air Force GPS Team

2013 NOAA

2012 Junichiro Kawaguchi, Ph.D., JAXA

2011 SpaceX and Telecom sans Frontieres

2010 Hubble Space Telescope Repair Mission Team

The 2016 Space Achievement Award will be presented on April 11 during the opening ceremony of the 32nd Space Symposium at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The opening ceremony is co-sponsored by Northrop Grumman, and features presentation of top Space Foundation awards.